Findlay Market eatery offers romantic sushi/Indian classes

My mom always told me that nothing gets a man’s heart like good
cooking. After two sticks of butter, one quart of heavy cream and a half-gallon
of milk, my date might have thought I was trying to clog his arteries rather
than “steal his heart.” Instead, we discovered each other’s love for high
calorie, mostly dairy-based foods and embraced cooking Indian cuisine together.
Sushi Bears, located in
Findlay Market’s Historic Market House, offers Indian and sushi cooking classes
for $80 per couple. Led by experienced chefs, the classes for two show proper cooking
techniques and dissolve the mystiques surrounding Indian/Asian food cuisines
over an hour and a half. You get to choose between the two cuisines and (of
course!) there are vegetarian and vegan options for both — just be sure to tell
the chef when you schedule your class.
In an effort to curb the copious amounts of money I spend on
Indian take-out every month, I opted to take my date to the Indian food class. I
scheduled our cooking class on a Wednesday; Findlay is pretty calm during the
week (I wouldn’t recommend the weekend because it’s busier and noisier), and coupled
with the warm weather, the mood was perfect. Inspired by the market’s intimate
atmosphere, I was ready to get down on some good cooking.
We walked up to the counter and our chef was getting the
food and tools together, ready to teach. With five years of Indian cuisine
cooking experience under his belt, Chef Joshua Stewart was knowledgeable, funny
and he (somehow) made cooking Indian food seem effortless.
Over the course of 75 minutes we learned about different spices
and ingredients used in popular Indian dishes, how to prepare those ingredients
and how to make paneer cheese. By the end of the class we made three different
dishes: saag paneer (a creamy spinach dish topped with Indian cheese), golden
curry (a base sauce used in around half of all Indian food recipes) and masala
(curry with tomato paste and spices). We topped a bowlful of rice with the
trifecta of sauces, sprinkled it with homemade cheese and dug in.
In addition to the cooking classes in the Market, the folks
at Sushi Bears teach group classes in homes, serve food and drinks to market-dwellers
and cater parties and events. Next time you’re at Findlay start off with the
wheatgrass lemonade ($2.49), one glass has the same nutritional content as a
pound of green leafy vegetables. For a meal try the chicken curry naan-wrap
($5.95) — that’s right, it’s like a burrito, only substitute the tortilla with
fluffy naan and a heap of your favorite Indian dish inside. If you’re looking for more traditional Indian
cuisine, try the chicken curry meal ($7.95). The portion sizes are pretty big,
so be prepared to make some space in your fridge for leftovers.
Judging by the food baby in my date’s stomach (he finished
his whole plate), I didn’t need to make room in my fridge. I had a feeling my
leftovers would be gone by the end of the evening, and I wouldn’t be the person
who ate them. Luckily, Chef Joshua sent me home with a DVD providing
step-by-step instructions on the Indian dishes so I can recreate them at home.
Store Hours: 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 10
a.m.- 4 p.m. Sunday
Phone: 513-608-3980Full Disclosure: CityBeat's discount gift certificate program, Perkopolis, offers a half-price deal on Sushi Bears rolling classes, though it was not the inspiration for our intern to try out the class. For more information, go here.

Findlay Market is serving up some new specialties these days: The long-awaited Vietnamese diner Pho Lang Thang is up and running, as is Sushi Bears, with an extensive menu of vegetarian and vegan sushi and stir fries. Fresh Table opened last month and offers ready-to-serve takeout with a focus on healthy, sustainable ingredients.